Matthew 16:13-20 13Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man to be?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
The story of Jesus comes to a crisis point in this passage. The Jewish leaders had made their position clear. They have rejected the authority of Jesus. On the other side, many people had put their faith in Jesus and experienced miracles beyond imagination. Now the disciples needed to make a decision. The crowd is no longer part of this episode; the focus is on the disciples. Jesus may have chosen Caesarea Philippi, an area north of the Sea of Galilee near Mount Hermon. The Jordan river begins in that area near a cave that had a pagan shrine to the Greek God Pan. The location had a lot of symbolism for the people of the area.
Jesus asks two important questions in this story about perception of his identity. The first question begins broadly. The disciples probably had heard the mumblings and speculations among the people. Jesus knew what the people were thinking but wanted the disciples to express it themselves. Everything Jesus did was intentional to challenge and train the disciples. The disciples’ response in verse 14 indicates that they crowds believed Jesus to be a prophet.
Evidently, the ministry of John the Baptist was well known. He had made a significant impression on people, and they recognized God’s work in him. It is possible that people out in the region of Galilee had not heard of John’s imprisonment and eventual death. They had not seen John but only heard rumors about his ministry. To the ignorant, mistaking Jesus for John could be easy. However, Jesus’ ministry far surpassed John’s. There is no record in the New Testament of John performing miracles. The message of John and Jesus was similar. The connection to John could focus upon the call to repentance and the coming kingdom.
Elijah did perform miracles. The second reference might be to Jesus’ miracle working power. There was something powerful at work in Jesus, just as there was in the ministry of Elijah. The people may have thought Jesus to be the fulfillment of the prophecy about the return of Elijah in Malachi 4:5. Jeremiah might be mentioned become of his message of judgment, similar to what Jesus warned about in his teaching for those who reject God’s kingdom. One of the prophets indicates that some people just did not know what to do with Jesus but were convinced he was a prophet. All of these ideas are close but do not go far enough. Jesus shared many of these elements but went beyond them all in his power and authority.
Many people today mistake the identity of Jesus. People recognize him as a great teacher and even a miracle worker, but they do not accept his authority as Savior, Lord, and Messiah. People like to put Jesus into a box of their own making. Even some Christian theologians define Jesus according to their own images, research, and conclusions. The biggest confusion comes from a lack of faith. Faith opens our eyes to who Jesus really is.
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